Wake Forest Falls to Hokies During Saturday Tilt

Saturday, January 24

Winston-Salem, N.C.

5 p.m.

Wake Forest University

12-9,2-7ACC

Virginia Tech

16-5,6-3ACC

Virginia Tech

Wake Forest

1/24/2026 7:27:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

The Demon Deacons were led offensively with 13 points each from freshman guard Milan Brown and sophomore forward Grace Oliver.

By: Kaitlyn Stocum and Andrew Kovar

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Wake Forest women's basketball team fell to Virginia Tech, 85-57, Saturday evening at the Joel.

The Demon Deacons (12-9, 2-7 ACC) tallied 15 total assists on the night on 22 made baskets (68.2 percent). Freshman forward Opal Bird led the Deacs with six assists in the game while finishing an efficient 3-of-4 from the field with seven points for the game.

On the offensive end of the floor, Wake Forest was led by a pair of 13-point performances from freshman Milan Brown and sophomore Grace Oliver. Oliver nearly completed her second-straight double double, posting a team-high eight rebounds.

Coming into the game, Oliver led the conference and ranked 10th nationally with a 60.7 field goal percentage. She had another efficient night, going 6-of-11 from the floor including 1-of-2 from behind the arc.

This marked Brown's seventh double figure game of the season and she added three assists and three rebounds to her team-high in points.

The Deacs controlled the paint against Virginia Tech (16-5, 6-3 ACC), winning the points in the paint battle, 34-28. Across 21 games, the Deacs have totaled 664 points in the paint (31.6 per game).

How It Happened

Despite the Hokies taking an early lead, freshman forward Opal Bird notched back-to-back buckets to bring the Deacs within a point with 6:41 to go.
Wake Forest took its first lead of the game with an 8-0 run, prompted by a turnaround jumper from sophomore guard Aurora Sørbye.
- Sophomore forward Grace Oliver connected with freshman guard Milan Brown to extend the Deacs lead to 11-8 with five minutes remaining.
- Off the bench, sophomore forward Kennedy Moore found junior guard/forward Mary Carter under the basket for two in the paint.
Oliver posted a layup as time expired in the first to keep the Deacs ahead, 15-12 headed into the second quarter.
Virginia Tech took over the lead at the 7:35 mark, to make it 18-16.
The Demon Deacons kept themselves within two with a layup from Carter.
- Brown closed it in on a point with an and-one with five minutes left in the half.
Moore tied things up with three, while a layup from Bird made it 26-24 to give Wake Forest the lead.
The Hokies got back in front in the closing minutes of the second quarter, but Carter went 2-for-2 at the stripe to keep the game close.
Brown worked her way up to the basket for the final bucket of the half.
Virginia Tech led Wake Forest by one, 34-33 at the break.
The squads traded points out of the locker room, as the Hokies held its lead.
- Brown gave the Deacs a one-point lead with a massive three, just 30 seconds in.
Freshman guard Caitlyn Jones worked a Hokie turnover for a layup, however Virginia Tech still led the Deacs, 49-40 with 4:09 left in the third quarter.
Sørbye made two at the stripe to cut the deficit to seven.
Virginia Tech led 57-44 heading into the final quarter.
Oliver reached double digit scoring with a layup at the 7:45 mark.
- The sophomore maintained her offensive momentum with three from the left corner.
Brown made a perfect trip at the free throw line to make it 53-70.
Wake Forest fell, 85-57 to the Hokies.

Standout Stats

Sophomore forward Grace Oliver and freshman guard Milan Brown tied for a team-high 13 points.
- Oliver went 6-of-11 from the field, with eight rebounds. The Norwell, Mass.-native leads the ACC with a .604 field goal percentage
- The Demon Deacons had another excellent game in the paint, with 34 points posted inside, while allowing Virginia Tech to score just 28, a six-point deficit. Across 21 games, the Deacs have totaled 664 points in the paint (31.6 per game).
Wake Forest tallied 15 total assists on the night on 22 made baskets (68.2 percent). In 21 games this season, the Demon Deacons have totaled 363 assists on 529 field goals (68.6 percent) which would mark the highest percentage in the Megan Gebbia era.
- The Demon Deacons are averaging 17.29 assists per game, second in the ACC behind Virginia's 19.16.

From Gebbia
"This started yesterday in practice but we didn't win in any area today. This is probably our worst game that we've played all year. We didn't follow the gameplan, and that showed today. I'm most disappointed with our effort once we got down. That's frustrating in how we showed up today. We have to make some major improvements to win in this league from what we've been doing, and that starts in practice this week." - Megan Gebbia

Up Next
Wake Forest returns to the Joel this upcoming Thursday as they welcome the Virginia Cavaliers.

Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.